The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Saturday said all the 1,430 pilgrims stranded in Nepal’s Simikot and Hilsa while returning from Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet have been evacuated.
The embassy said the evacuation process was completed after 160 pilgrims were brought to Nepalgunj and Surkhet on Saturday. “Embassy’s team continues to be stationed to monitor the situation,” the Indian Embassy tweeted.
The pilgrims were stranded in Nepal for the past five days as continued downpour in the western regions of the country had blocked transportation. Commercial flights and helicopters of the Nepal Army were deployed for the evacuation process, PTI reported.
“All of them have been airlifted from Hilsa and Simikot to Surkhet and Nepalgunj – border towns of Nepal,” PTI quoted Indian Embassy spokesperson Roshan Lepcha as saying. “Two embassy staff were also deployed at the site for facilitating evacuation and establishing communication with the family members of the victims.”
He said the embassy had coordinated with local tour operators and security people to carry out the rescue works.
The Indian Embassy evacuated the pilgrims in batches . Two pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala died in Nepal while returning from the pilgrimage.
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